Vicente

A seated balloon vendor in a moment of respite is the subject of this a large-scale oil painting, titled 'Vicente,' by Los Angeles-based artist Javier Carrillo. In a 2017 interview with the artist he explained, “When I work on my paintings, I like to focus a lot on capturing tired expressions and facial details,” which is evident in his subject’s drooping eyes and posture. Carrillo continued, “I tried to show how tired his face is from walking miles all day...I ended up walking around with him and he asked me to carry the pole for a while...I thought it was going to be light but the weight adds up. His shoulders weren’t even, after carrying it for years on his shoulder, the bone on was dented; you could he’s been doing this for a long time. It was striking.”

[Madelyne Gordon, “Javier Carrillo,” in USC Fisher Museum of Art / Art Division: Artists in Residence, (Los Angeles: USC Fisher Museum of Art, 2017) 37.]